Marvel's Captain America: Civil War comes out in just a week after building hype for the better part of a year. I figured this would act as a good basis for a recap article of the first month of the fantasy baseball season.

Here I'll outline some of April's best and which superhero they compare to. Fantasy baseball and comic book--two nerd cultures that were always destined to collide. As always tweet me @Roto_Dubs with any commentary.

Which team do YOU want going forward?

 

Team Captain America

Captain America - Jake Arrieta (SP, CHC)

Captain America is all about defending and shutting things down, just like the reining Cy Young winner. Arrieta picked up right where he left off in April, going 5-0 with a 1.00 ERA and 0.78 WHIP. Betters don't stand a chance against the bearded phenom, and just like Captain America he is very clearly better than the average man in every way. Plus Arrieta throws baseballs, Cap tosses shields.

Winter Soldier - Chris Sale (SP, CWS)

Sale has been almost as good as Arrieta in the early goings, just as the Winter Soldier is almost as strong and fast as Captain America. Winter Soldier sports a metal left arm, and looking at his numbers you could argue that Sale does as well--he's also 5-0 on the season and sports a 1.66 ERA and 0.68 WHIP. Like Arrieta Sale has 32 strikeouts on the season, and they're both from Chicago. Sounds like a Captain America/Winter Soldier-esque bromance to me.

Ant-Man - Jose Altuve (2B, HOU)

Maybe this one's a bit too obvious, but it's also outrageously fitting. Sure they're both small, but they also pack way more power into that smaller stature. Did you know that Jose Altuve hit six homers in April? That puts him one ahead of Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Ryan Braun, Chris Carter, and Andrew McCutchen, for those keeping track at home. Oh, he's also hitting .330 and leading the MLB in steals (9). He's just as powerful as his superhero contemporaries even though he is considerably smaller, just like Ant-Man.

Falcon - Starling Marte (OF, PIT)

Starling Marte has been flying all over the place. He's the cleanup hitter for a very good Pirates lineup (although they've struggled to bring runs in at times), and he's the definition of a five-tool player. Through one month he's hitting .326 with 14 runs scored, 12 RBI, three homers and seven bags swiped. He's a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder in addition to being a great contact and power hitter, and he trails only Jose Altuve in stolen bases. Marte makes an impact everywhere on the battlefield, just like the Falcon.

Hawkeye - Aledmys Diaz (SS, STL)

So far in his rookie season, Diaz has been a hell of a marksman--he always seems to hit it where there aren't any fielders. The Cardinals starting shortstop is hitting .446 as of this writing, and that's not a cheap number. He's done it across 65 at-bats, and has been a major factor in the Cardinals' success so far. Obviously that average is unsustainable, but there is nothing to suggest that Diaz can't hit .300 over a full season. Jhonny Peralta will likely be given the starting shortstop gig back when he returns from injury, but with Kolten Wong looking like total garbage and Diaz hitting like a madman, I wouldn't be shocked to see him start at several positions later in the season.

Scarlet Witch - Kenta Maeda (SP, LAD)

Maeda has been positively magical through the first month. He has baffled team after team, allowing one run or fewer in each of his first four starts. Through five starts, he has a 1.41 ERA and 0.94 WHIP to go along with three wins (four quality starts) and 28 strikeouts. While it is far too early to diagnose Maeda as either the next Hiroki Kuroda or the next Kei Igawa, so far he has had no trouble taking his success in Japan and replicating it here. Batters are putty in his hands, just as most enemies fall to Scarlet Witch with little resistance.

 

Team Iron Man

Iron Man - Bryce Harper (OF, WAS)

This is an easy comparison--they both have all the tools and leave destruction in their wake. Harper has been (arguably) the offensive MVP of the first month of the season and he's done it in every way imaginable. He's hitting .314 with nine bombs, 15 runs scored, an MLB-leading 24 RBI and five stolen bases. The personalities are somewhat congruent as well; both are a bit on the arrogant side. Iron Man can beat you in so many ways, not unlike Harper, who also has been playing an excellent right field.

War Machine - Clayton Kershaw (SP, LAD)

Just as War Machine does, Kershaw came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. With the third-most innings pitched and the second-most strikeouts in baseball, it's clear Clayton Kershaw is just as dangerous as he's always been. While the 2.43 ERA is a bit high for Kershaw's nigh-unattainable standards, his 0.81 WHIP is right in line with what we've come to expect from the former MVP. Extremely durable, extremely lethal--this war machine will keep firing until the job is done.

Black Panther - Jose Quintana (SP, CWS)

Like Black Panther, Quintana is better than mere mortals in a number of aspects of the game. Through five starts he's tallied three wins (four QS) on the back of a 1.47 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. He's also killed batters with more than a strikeout per inning, and he's only gotten stronger as the season has progressed. The highlight was six innings of no-run, 10-strikeout ball against the potent Blue Jays lineup this past week. Quintana has always been right on the fringe of All-Star caliber, and this could very well be the year he cracks the top 20 in fantasy.

The Vision - Josh Donaldson (3B, TOR) 

The Vision is all-powerful. As an android, he can rearrange his own molecules, fly, and shoot laser beams out of his forehead among other powers. Josh Donaldson is similarly powerful--we don't know where the ceiling of his potential is. The reigning AL MVP is off to another MVP-caliber season, hitting .297 with 21 runs scored, 19 RBI and seven big flies through 91 at-bats. He's a Gold Glove third baseman and one of the best all-around sluggers in the game. One might say he's a vision of what an MVP should be...

Black Widow - Jean Segura (SS, ARI)

Agile. Quick. Deadly. Much like Black Widow, Jean Segura sneaked up on the National League this year and they are paying the price. The former Brewer's career has been revived in Arizona, as he's leading the MLB in hits through four weeks. He's also cracked four homers and stolen four bases, and he's definitely capable of a 15-30 season (he stole 44 bases in his All-Star 2013 campaign). Segura has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2016 season--or unpleasant, if you're the one he's after.

Spider-Man - Johnny Cueto (SP, SF)

Cueto has been exceptionally durable so far, just as Spider-Man is durable and flexible. He's gone at least seven innings in each of his five starts so far, and he capped off the month with an 11-strikeout shutout of the offensively-challenged Padres. Cueto has been one of the game's best for years now, just like everyone's favorite wall-crawler. With the Giants potent offense behind him, I think Cueto has an outside chance at 18 wins this season if he can stay healthy.

 

Bonus Avengers

Thor - Noah Syndergaard (SP, NYM)

I mean, is there any way the two DON'T compare? The long hair, the Nordic background, the devastating hammer (curveball)...there has never been a more appropriate nickname in baseball. Thor is a Cy Young candidate this year, although he'll be hard-pressed to overcome Captain America and War Machine (see above).

The Hulk - Trevor Story (SS, COL)

TREVOR...SMASHHHH!!!!!!

 

Obviously all the characters and movie titles I used here are registered trademarks of Marvel. Just because I probably have to say it.

 

MLB & Fantasy Baseball Chat Room